Is the impossible dream back on for Sunderland?

Just when you had given up all hope and any semblance of chance that Sunderland had of avoiding the drop, Gus Poyet conjured up what can only be described as a miracle on his return to Chelsea.

Much like the midweek fixture at Manchester City, no-one gave Sunderland a prayer as they headed to the capital on Sunday evening to go head-to-head with the Blues and their quite remarkable home record under the tutelage of the enigmatic Jose Mourinho.

Indeed, much like the cavalier performance during the week, Sunderland were once again superb and, this time around, were fully deserving of their unlikely three points.

The game itself hinged on a controversial penalty which was awarded following a clumsy looking challenge from Chelsea’s Cesar Azpilicueta on a goal bound Jozy Altidore, with the Spaniard desperately looking to catch up with the American having initially stumbled to allow the Sunderland man into the penalty area.

The Chelsea defender’s tackle has stimulated great debate since with many differing opinions being put forward as to the validity of the decision.

Of course Mourinho had his own petulant point of view, however, for me at least, the penalty was probably just about justified as Azpilicueta’s decision to go to ground was both ill-advised and reckless, with Altidore’s stride broken by the sliding tackle and his standing foot taken away from underneath him.

A defender is always asking for trouble when they go to ground in such circumstances and thankfully, lady luck was shining on Sunderland and God knows we need all the help we can get.

Gus Poyet has seen his side pick up vital points at Manchester City and Chelsea (Picture: Getty Images)

Ultimately, however, Sunderland owed a great deal of debt to their goalkeeper, Vito Mannone, who triumphantly returned to form following a howler at The Etihad which granted City a late equaliser and robbed his side what would have been an incredible six points from the two games.

Mannone, admittedly, managed to weather a nervy early storm, looking a little reluctant to leave his line and take command of his penalty area, which indeed helped Chelsea to their opening goal. However, the Italian grew into the game and managed to make an unbelievable fourteen saves, a joint high of any Premier League goalkeeper in the last decade.

While Sunderland’s chance of avoiding the drop still remain slim what can’t be denied is that Poyet’s men have managed to build themselves a fantastic platform to build from with some unlikely results and performances this past week.

The club’s Premier League status is very much in our own hands now with home games against Cardiff City, West Brom and Swansea City now looking like fantastic opportunities for three points instead of the impending disappointment many fans had resigned themselves too.

Ultimately the fans can have a massive hand in this run in and I implore any Sunderland fan that is able to get to the Stadium of Light this coming Sunday does so, your support could be vital.